Just The Way You Are
by Kirah Ruth
Summary: Inuyasha is not accepted by anyone, or so he believes... but Kagome proves him wrong. Bad summary, Good fluff! InuKag


The Inuyasha crew walked along in strained silence. Everybody knew that tonight was the new moon, but nobody wanted to bring up the idea of stopping early to the surly hanyou.

Kagome had mentioned sensing a jewel shard that morning, and they had been heading toward it ever since. Other travelers along the way informed them that the jewel shard was located in a village, about a half a day away. They journey had been a silent one- save for Miroku's occasional groping, always followed by a loud slap from Sango.

When they finally reached the village, however, they were stopped at the front gate.

"Halt!" A guard cried, running in front of them. He proceeded, without explanation, to scrutinize Inuyasha, examining his ears, claws, and eyes. The irritated Hanyou hit him over the head almost immidiately.

"What are you looking at?"

"SIT, boy!"

The guard recovered quickly and pointed accusingly at the face-down Inuyasha.

"You! You're a half demon, aren't you?"

Inuyasha, finally able to pull himself from the ground, glared at the man. "And what of it?"

The man sneered. "We don't allow monsters such as you into our village."

Kagome was the only one that caught the slightly hurt expression that was on Inuyasha's face for a millisecond before being replaced by an enraged look.

"Why you..."

"SIT!"

Inuyasha crashed down again, deepening the hole that was already in the ground. Kagome turned to the others, discussing what to do.

"We can't just leave the jewel shard." Sango said.

"Why don't we wait until tonight, when Inuyasha is human?"

"But Miroku, wouldn't it be just a little weird if left now and came back in the middle of the night with a human? Besides, we couldn't possibly get the jewel in one short night. It would be best if we talked them into giving it to us- which we have little chance of doing if we wake them up and ask for their most treasured possesion, and then leave before the sun comes up."

"I say we just beat it out of them." Said a surly Inuyasha, who had freed himself from the ground without anyone noticing.

Kagome shook her head. "If this village has managed to keep a sacred jewel shard, they must be very good at fighting off demons. Even with our strength, I doubt we could do it without killing anyone. But..." Kagome paused, as though unsure of whether or not to voice her next thought.

"Spit it out!" Inuyasha snapped.

"Well... Sango, Miroku, you go into the village and at least find out who has the sacred jewel shard and if they're any chance of us getting it peacefully. We'll just camp outside the village tonight."

Sango and Miroku nodded, but Inuyasha looked a little confused. "What'd you mean, 'we'?"

Kagome turned to him, looking as though she was explaining something to a young child. "Me and you, silly! You think I was just going to abbandon you on the night when you're most vulnerable?"

Inuyasha had to admit that, now that he thought of it, she wouldn't do that.He nodded.

"So it's settled." Kagome glanced around. "Where's Shippou?"

They all looked for a moment of confusion until Sango exclaimed "Oh! Look!"

They all looked where Sango was pointing, and saw Shippou playing with a bunch of other children down by a river. Kagome had to smile- she loved seeing the kitsune happy, expecially after all he had been through. In this age of war, it really was soothing to hear the ripples of laughter coming from the children.

"I guess he'll stay in the village tonight" Kagome aknowledged. Without further ado, she walked toward the forest, searching for a camping spot. Inuyasha followed her.

"Hey, wait!" Sango suddenly exclaimed. They two turned around, and Sango whispered a few words to Kirara, making the fire cat spring forward toward them. "Take Kirara- you'll need her more than us."

And so the friends parted for one fateful night.

It didn't take Kagome long to find a suitable camping spot, and the two spent the rest of the daylight preparing firewood and dinner. As Kagome stirred the stew that was cooking over the fire, Inuyasha became human. Kagome paused to watch the transformation. She would never admit it, but she loved how he looked as a human- though she did miss his ears. Kirara was asleep at the other side of the fire, but everyone knew she would awake at the slightest sign of trouble.

After dinner, Inuyasha walked over to a tree that was at the edge of the firelight and sat down. Kagome noticed that he looked slightly depressed- he would never admit it, but after all the times he had been rejected, it still hurt. She walked over to him, taking a seat as she steeled herself for the long battle ahead before he actually opened up and talked to her. Suprisingly, it didn't take as much as she thought.

"Inuyasha, it's the village's problem if they don't accept you. Not yours."

"But that's exactly it. Nobody accepts you. You weren't even supposed to be born. Nobody ever cares about you." He looked almost close to tears now. Kagome was a little suprised by his outburst, but he wasn't done talking yet.

"Everybody pushes you away like disgusting vermin. And nobody -_nobody-_ can ever love you."

Kagome wanted to cry for him. It must have been increadibly hard... she wanted to do nothing more than comfort the poor, distresed hanyou.

"_I_ love you, Inuyasha. Just the way you are."

It took Kagome a moment to fully realize what she had just said. She had known she loved him for a while now, but she had never meant to say it... She turned away, embarassed and distresed. But silently she was pleading with him- 'Say something... anything...'

Kagome felt his hand on her shoulder. "Kagome?"

She looked over at him, scared of what would happen next. There were tears in her eyes that threatened to fall- she had probably just screwed everything up beyond repair.

"I love you too."

Her brain took a whole 30 seconds to process what he had just said. 'He... he loves me?' "You really mean that?"

He nodded, and their eyes met. Almost unconciously, they grew closer and closer together, and slowly, their eyes slid shut. Their lips met a chaste kiss, and Inuyasha wrpped an arm around her waist. They parted after a few long seconds, and Inuyasha drew her closer to him.

"Sleep... Koshii."

Kagome smiled at the endearment and rested her head on his shoulder, drifting into a happy sleep.

A/N- What do you think? My first fluffy story, and I don't think I did half bad. Tell me what you think! Also, do you think I should have a second chapter? I was thinking of maybe putting in San/Mir fluff... What do you think?


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